Review of Romantic Comedy by Curtis Sittenfeld

*Romantic Comedy* by Curtis Sittenfeld (2023). Published by Random House.

I had known Romantic Comedy existed for some time since I saw it on some 2023 books list that one should read this summer, and I think what deterred me away from the book at first was the fact it was straight up called Romantic Comedy.

There’s something to note about me and my reading tastes: I’m not a fan of romance at all. I avoid romance novels like the plague, especially the ones that are on TikTok. TikTok books tend to be the ones I avoid the most because of how I think the writing tends not to be the greatest. My friend likened it to the writing someone finds on Wattpad, and, quite frankly, I agree.

Anyways, despite my best judgement, I ended up picking a copy of Romantic Comedy from my local library.

What ended up drawing me in the most was the fact the protagonist was a writer for a New York City comedy show (similar to SNL, but with a different name basically). I didn’t even read the synopsis beyond that I think, or it didn’t register, because I completely missed the fact she falls in love with one of the show’s musical guests.

That ended up being shameful for me when I got to that point because of how shocked I was. That shouldn’t be a surprise for most people.

I’ve rambled enough. Onwards with the review!

Sally is envious of her coworker’s romance with a celebrity but then finds herself tangled with a pop star.

A long-time writer for a comedy show that airs on Saturdays, Sally is jealous of Danny, another one of her writers who has recently started dating a famous actress. They are now engaged to be married, which doesn’t help Sally’s feelings at all, and they’re pretty lovey dovey despite said engagement seemingly being on the rocks at times.

Sally loves her job and it was actually her dream job once upon a time, but things are about to change when a former teen heartthrob prepares to appear on the show as a member of several skits and a musical performer.

Sally is prepping a skit at this point about Danny’s relationship and how few women would be in the same situation as he is, which becomes ironic when she is attracted to the pop star: Noah.

He’s got a reputation for dating models, but when the two of them find themselves alone and rewriting certain parts of one of his skits, sparks begin to fly between them.

They continue to work on the skits, and Sally finds herself having three different skits considered for a single nights’ worth of episodes—a career high in all of the time she’s spent here at the show, and something uncommon for the writers. One of the writers she had a thing with in the past makes a snarky comment about it, but it’s not going to interrupt her flow.

Danny and the actress split up the night of the show, leaving him to have a meltdown and for Sally to request her skit about their relationship to be pulled from the show, and at the show’s afterparty, things go sour with her and Noah.

She makes a comment about how he likes models, lowkey degrading herself in his eyes at the comment, and he ends up getting pissed at her because of it. They don’t talk for two years, the COVID-19 pandemic happens, and then Sally ends up in her small Midwestern town to flee New York.

A third of the book is then set two years later when they begin emailing each other about their lives and what’s going on with them currently. This then prompts Sally to drive all the way to another state for hours in order for a complex booty call with Noah, and when that ends up being a success, she moves into his house in California where they keep having sex and deep conversations.

That’s basically the final third of the book, and they only move out of there to go back to her town when her elderly father ends up with COVID. And despite an entire book of the main character going on about how ugly and unwanted she is, this pop star does end up wanting to marry her. She quits her job for it, as she doesn’t want to leave California for New York just yet.

Overall Thoughts

I genuinely think one could skip 1/3 of the book—the email threads—and end up fine with finishing it and understanding everything that goes on. It could literally just be summarized as “they reconnected through email” and that’s that.

But in the end, I thought the most interesting part of the novel was her dream career she was living as a comedy writer, but then she ends up giving that up when the COVID-19 pandemic happens and she dates Noah once again.

I thought the romantic elements of the novel were lackluster and I didn’t care for their relationship, which made this kind of painful to finish by the end. I was so ready to quit but I pulled through.

It’s sad to see the protagonist’s inferiority complex, too, and I just wanted to shake her and say she’s so successful and ready for life but instead it all felt tedious as she rehashed said inferiority out. This also doesn’t unfold like a romantic comedy, unfortunately.

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